The surprise on Jiang Yanchuan's face was just right.
Any more would have looked contrived; any less would have seemed too bland.
He slowly set down his Cinnabar Brush and lifted the little girl into his arms again.
"Are you tired of reading?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
Although the little girl's dazed expression made his heart ache a little-
A faint smile lingered on Jiang Yanchuan's lips.
As long as the little girl brought up the war with Beiming today, he could casually mention "personally leading the imperial campaign" and steer them into a heart-to-heart where father and daughter could tell each other anything.
"Mm."
Under Jiang Yanchuan's eager gaze, Jiang Yingcheng finally spoke, but what she said was-
"This is Grandpa Kan's memorial-"
She reached out and handed the memorial to her beautiful imperial father, indicating that it was an urgent matter requiring priority, then turned away, picked up another memorial, and started reading on her own.
She did not mention its contents at all.
Jiang Yanchuan: "..."
Eunuch Changshun, who had guessed Emperor Mingze's intentions and scarcely dared to breathe: "..."
"Hm?" Sensing the complicated gaze resting on her, Jiang Yingcheng turned back, her face full of confusion. "Imperial Father, why aren't you working yet?"
Her pitch-black eyes brimmed with disapproval at this sort of "slacking off"-
[Chengcheng still wants to visit Great-Grandmother tonight~]
She had bought Great-Grandmother a present, too.
Imperial Father needed to finish his work quickly so he could accompany her to Changning Palace.
"...All right," Jiang Yanchuan said with difficulty. "I understand."
Jiang Yingcheng nodded and slowly turned back around.
She seemed to be earnestly reading the memorial in her hands, but in reality-
*[Sigh-there wasn't enough time just now. Chengcheng hadn't even gotten a good look at that memorial